Porsche 911 Carrera 4: Four wheels of fury

We found a very interesting driving report of the new Porsche 911 Carrera 4. Make sure to read!

Chief on its list of updates is a brand-new all-wheel power distribution system derived from the 997 Turbo. Its Porsche Traction Management (PTM) employs an electronically controlled multi-plate clutch programmed to feed an optimum share of power and torque to the front axle. The system continually monitors and adapts to current conditions, offering split-second adjustments and intervening for wheel slip, understeer and oversteer, and taking steering angle, wheel speeds, and various dynamic signals into account.

PTM can direct up to 100 percent of current output in either direction. The system also features a standard limited-slip differential on the rear axle for dynamic at-the-limit driving. And speaking of dynamic, PTM also offers three-stage functionality, where the second stage feeds power forward less readily, or a third stage where the system is defeated entirely.

Flogging an admittedly snazzy Racing Green Metallic C4S around a fairly tight road course at Michelin’s tire test facility-situated on a huge decommissioned airbase north of Berlin-really showed the multi-stage PTM’s seeming clairvoyance. I’ve driven other all-wheel systems that claim to allow varying degrees of tail-out action, but PTM blows them all away in terms of the leeway it allows for slip, reportedly upwards of 40 degrees. The course featured a painted tarmac surface which gave up a fair amount of slip, and with PTM’s second stage engaged (sport) gives the driver enviable license for sideways shenanigans before it intervenes.